


Can You Fill The Silence

by toasterpapa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Auror Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, HP: EWE, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-11-29 03:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11432019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toasterpapa/pseuds/toasterpapa
Summary: (This is an old version - I recommend reading the newer rewrite that's up)"He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words."------------------------------------He wasn't mute. He could speak perfectly fine, thank you very much, he just decided to only speak when absolutely necessary. Why waste his breath if it wasn't worth it? If these people didn't want to listen to his words, he wouldn't give any to them. It was just better that way. It was easier. It was peaceful.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to write this story in snippets, so when there's a dash line it indicates a bit of a time skip, and the next part will indicate when it's taking place so dw it's easy to follow.

"He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He wasn't mute. He could speak perfectly fine, thank you very much, he just decided to only speak when absolutely necessary. Why waste his breath if it wasn't worth it? If these people didn't want to listen to his words, he wouldn't give any to them. It was just better that way. It was easier. It was peaceful. 

After the war, no one wanted to hear what Draco had to say. He tried, for a short while, but after he said his piece at the trials, he was done. He was through with trying to explain himself, to explain his actions. He didn't owe anyone anything. They didn't have a right to know his motivations, so Draco wouldn't tell them, and just let them think their worst. This was not ignorance or defence of his actions which he knew full well were wrong, this was desperation at trying to leave the past in the past and continue on with his life. 

He had to return to Hogwarts to complete his seventh year as part of his probation, which annoyed him as he already knew all he needed to know, but was a fairly generous sentence considering he was not a minor, so he took it without complaint. When he arrived at the school, he wasn't sure what people were expecting from him. They probably expected more of his stream of insults and subtle jabs at everyone around him, but Draco had grown past those childish remarks, and was just too tired. No one expected him to fall into a stony silence. For the first few months of Draco sitting at the back of classes vaguely taking notes, talking to no one, people thought it was some sort of joke. They expected him to break at some point, but he did not. Eventually he passed by unknown and unseen, and that was completely fine by him. The quiet was comforting. 

He graduated top of the class, finally tied with Hermione, and knew that going back to the Malfoy estate was not an option for him. He would go crazy in that mansion; he already thought back to that year during the war enough when he was far away, he couldn't imagine trying to live there again. So, he decided to get a job. In an unnerving show of his old confidence, he applied to be an Auror. He didn't think much of it, as he would most likely be rejected immediately when they saw the name on the application, but much to his shock, he received a letter not long after telling him he'd been accepted into Auror training. He considered not going through with it, as certainly everyone there would despise him, but he had no better options, so he went. 

Needless to say, on the first day of training, all the new recruits from his Hogwarts year were quite shocked to see Draco Malfoy slide in unnoticed. They whispered, and pointed, and some tried to talk to him, or more accurately at him, but he just ignored them and focused on practicing. He rose to the top of the class yet again, and was especially skilled at defence charms by the end of it. Some people who were borderline kind to Draco without actually befriending him asked for advice on blocking unexpected hexes and jinxes. To their surprise, Draco did help them, and he helped them well. He never did do anything half-heartedly. After what felt like a very long time, and a ton more even difficult and now practical schooling, Draco was officially an Auror. 

The rookies are paired up with experienced Aurors for their first six months, and with no surprise to Draco, he was paired up with an old very snide Auror who probably should have been encouraged to retire years ago. This man, whose name Draco never bothered to remember, enjoyed bringing up Draco's past criminal record at every possible opportunity, and never did any actual work. In his first three months in the Auror office, Draco got very good at filing paperwork. Draco always was the best at what he did, whether he wanted to be or not. Lucky for him, but not for the old wizard, the Auror he'd been paired with had a mild heart attack and did retire after three months of lightly tormenting Draco with insults and endless filing. Draco was relieved, but worried at who they would pair him with next. His superiors gave him the worst cases, who could guess why?

Finally it was Draco who was shocked when he was given an office number on that next fateful Monday morning, and entered to find none other than Harry Potter sitting regally at a very cluttered desk. 

"Malfoy?" He asked, standing up and straightening his crimson robes. 

Draco nodded in greeting, and passed Potter the slip of paper that said he was his new supervisor/mentor/whatever it was that the other old Auror man had certainly not been.  


"Okay then," said Potter, "Have a seat."

Draco took the seat on the other side of Potter's desk, and felt oddly like he was about to be interrogated.

Potter sat back down in his considerably more comfortable chair, and addressed Draco again, more formally than his previous confusedly surprised greeting. "I heard that you passed training, there was really no doubt about that, but I hadn't seen you around the office." Draco shrugged, so Potter looked back down at the letter Draco had given him again. "Aah, I see you were with McNeil. That makes sense. Did he just have you doing paperwork all day?" 

Draco nodded. He was not good at small talk, and refused to engage in it.

"Well, I don't have much to do today, I just finished up a case and am waiting for another, but I was just about to go trolling for one if you want to join," Potter suggested.

Draco nodded and stood up as an acceptance of Potter's offer, and basically just trailed a few steps behind Potter as he walked through the Auror floor, charming everyone in sight until he was handed a file. Potter thanked the witch who had given it to him with a dazzling smile, then turned back to Draco and handed him the file after flipping through it.  
"What do you think?" He asked after Draco had finished scanning the contents of the admittedly thin folder. Draco nodded in approval, though confused as to why Potter thought he needed approval from Draco, and made the sort of expression one makes when seeing something mediocre yet altogether not displeasing. "Alright then," said Potter, with far too much enthusiasm, which is to say more than having none like the case actually deserved, "Let's go."

Draco was then essentially Potter's shadow for the day, as they went around to various locations in London interviewing people about an incident involving an illegal Clabbert which the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had passed off to the Aurors once the creature had been taken care of. Usually with repeat offenders in the illegal magical creature trade, they sent in Aurors to make sure nothing too suspicious was going on. Sure enough, nothing nefarious was going on, but at least Draco had managed to get out of the office. Potter smiled at everyone he interviewed, and even at Draco a few times, which Draco didn't fully understand. After the 'case' had been closed, Potter proposed the idea of getting takeaway, as he had to wait late for his report on his last case to be reviewed. This was the thing Draco was the most enthusiastic about all week. 

They picked up their food at a Muggle restaurant, and the owners recognized Potter, which lead Draco to believe Potter worked many late nights. He had commitment, Draco had to give him that. Everyone had the suspicion that Potter had risen through the ranks of the Aurors quickly because of the enormous reputation he carried, but he really did work for it. Draco hoped that he would stay paired with Potter for the next three months, as he seemed to be very civil towards Draco, which was quite a relief. He had thought that surely of all people, Harry Potter would be the one to hold a personal grudge against him. He truly was the wizarding world's golden boy. 

They ate their food in relative silence for a while, which Draco didn't mind, until Potter started telling him a story of a case he'd had a few months previously that involved a Chinese restaurant being the front for illegal potion trading. Potter told stories well, well enough to elicit a smile from Draco, but did have the habit of brandishing his chopsticks slightly too much when he was speaking. It was endearing, Draco supposed. 

"So come on, I've been chatty all day, you must have something to say, being paired with me of all people," said Potter finally. 

Draco shrugged. 

"Come on," said Potter, "You must have something to say. You always have something to say."

Draco shook his head. 

"Fine," said Potter, possibly sounding almost offended, Draco wasn't quite sure, "I can speak enough for the both of us I guess."

Draco wasn't going to say anything to this at all, but he supposed he should give the poor man something, and then he might drop the subject.

"Thank you," was all Draco said. 

Harry seemed surprised by this utterance for a moment, as he had not heard Draco's voice for probably two years or maybe more, and it was nothing like the sneering voice he remembered from school. It sounded closer to the voice he had heard at the trials, and he wasn't sure if that made him sad or proud. He nodded once to Draco, letting him know that he wouldn't push him to speak if he did not want to. Draco was immensely grateful for this small gesture, as he was so tired of all the pestering. He hadn't taken a vow of silence or anything, he did speak, he just didn't want to sometimes. Why was that so hard for people to comprehend?

After that fateful night of Chinese takeaway eaten at Potter's very cluttered desk, they fell into a strange sort of dynamic. They would do work in comfortable silence, or Potter would talk, and Draco would listen and occasionally comment. Potter was easy to be around, and after a while Draco didn't mind the chopstick waving or the slightly rambling stories Potter would tell to pass the time when they were on a stakeout or just staying in the office far too late. Those nights were Draco's favourite, when they would eat far too much food and laugh about the office gossip Potter somehow always had. 

"How do you know so much?" Draco asked on one of these nights, after a particularly juicy story about one of the secretaries and a senior Auror. 

"I talk to people," Potter answered, "I smile, and I remember the names of their pets and their birthdays, and they tell me their secrets."

Draco nodded in approval of Potter's tactic. 

"I don't know anything about you, however," said Potter, getting the devilish glow in his eye that he always got when he was about to discover a new piece of gossip. And people thought Draco was a drama queen. 

"No." 

"I don't know your birthday, and you don't seem the type to have pets, so I suppose my smiles will just have to do the work," said Potter, smiling. 

Draco did appreciate those smiles, but he was determined that they would not work on him. There was no interesting gossip to learn about him anyway. 

"I guess I'll just have to ask you questions then, use my Auror skills to interpret your reactions," said Potter, still smiling. 

Draco glared pointedly at the smiling man across the table from him, with a completely unreadable expression. 

"Soooo," said Potter, mocking a cliche teenage girl voice, "Dating anyone?"

Draco shook his head, as this was a question he was willing to answer. 

"Hmm," Potter hummed, leaning back in his chair and appraising Draco, "Dated anyone recently then? Messy breakup perhaps? Or did the romance just fade?"

Draco shook his head again. 

"Really? Draco Malfoy, not seeing anyone," said Potter, not fully believing it. 

Draco decided this would be more fun if he were to play along, so he said in a flat tone, "Haven't had a relationship recently."

Potter smiled again, leaning forward with his elbows on the desk now, fully hooked by Draco's one small piece of information. "Not a fan of monogamy? Or just not found the right person? Prefer to dabble? I respect that. Good choice."

Potter had a tendency to say a lot of things at once, so Draco couldn't really nod or shake his head to anything, he just sat there and looked at Potter, expression still impassable.  
Draco leaned his head to the side and raised his eyebrows at Potter, gesturing for him to share about himself. 

"You want to know about my relationship status? Well I suppose you did give me the tiniest tidbit of information so it's only fair that I reciprocate. I am not dating anyone."  
Draco raised one eyebrow in confusion. 

"That is correct," Potter continued, "I am not dating anyone, if you are confused because of my high school romance that everyone thought was going to end in a lovely marriage, kids, and white picket fence, that ended rather civilly after the war."

Draco nodded knowingly. 

"Yeah, things just weren't the same after."

They fell into a silence, both of them knowing that the other was thinking back to their times in the war, and how they could never get back to who they were before. In Draco's case, he was somewhat glad in a small way, as he'd stopped being such a git, but he suspected that the war took even more from Potter, and given him nothing in return. They'd both seen things that no one should have to see, and it had robbed them of their childhoods, of the carefree exploration years you should be able to have in your teens. They were two sides of the same coin; the two boys on opposite sides, trapped by their last names and their so-called destinies. 

Over the next month, Potter had made it his mission to find out details of Draco's life, as apparently he was so intrigued by it. Unfortunately, they had both been through the rigorous Auror training of how to resist interrogation, so he had had no luck so far. One of the strategies he had tried was to tell Draco details of his own life in the hope that Draco would feel obligated to share his own. Draco saw right through this however, but he did get to learn about the details of Potter's love life, which was very fun to hold over him: the fact that he knew so much while the other knew so little. Potter had said that he dated guys and girls, which was a surprise to Draco, as he seemed like the epitome of a straight guy who would play sports and then have a wife and 2.5 kids and live in the suburbs. This was not the case, and Draco heard some wild stories about the times he was almost recognized at a gay bar before he got out of there really fast and started going to only obscure Muggle clubs instead. 

Draco took note of one of the names of these clubs to knock off his own list so he would not run into Potter there. That he could not explain away with a solemn silence.  
There was one month left in Draco's trial period I guess you could call it, and Draco was a bit disappointed, because he and Potter were becoming a very good team. They had one of the best closure rates for cases in the entire department, though at this point a lot of that was good luck and timing. Potter had a knack of finding cases out of nothing, and more than once they'd managed to get something big. The pair were very intimidating, with their reputations to back them. Potter would just walk in guns blazing as the Muggles would say, and Draco would go with him, silent and mysterious and altogether terrifying. There was the added bonus of it being Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, the iconic enemies, working together to fuck shit up that really made criminals panic. Often, Draco would recognize someone who'd had business with his father in the past, and was able to provide insight. This coupled with Potter's uncanny ability to know everything about a person just by one look made them the ones to beat. 

"Potter," said Draco, knocking on the office door.

The man in question opened the door, and Draco wordlessly passed him a file: their latest case. "You can call me Harry, you know," Potter said. Draco shrugged and walked past him, sitting in the now more comfortable chair that had become his, and put his feet up on the desk while Potter got caught up on the case. 

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked up from the file to Draco's feet on his desk. "Seriously? Feet on my desk?"

Draco swept his hand through the air above the desk in a dramatic gesture, bringing Potter's attention to the clutter covering the entire surface. 

"Good point," said Potter, Harry, whichever he was supposed to use to refer to his somewhat partner. 

Draco took his feet off the desk all the same, and whipped out his wand to perform a quick charm to organize the desk. It looked marginally better once Draco had finished with it, but it was a bit of a lost cause. 

"Hey!" Harry protested, "How am I going to find anything now?"

Draco shook his head and looked at the floor exasperatedly, and waved his wand once again to put Harry's desk back in disorder, despite how much it pained him to do so. 

"Aah, that's much better," said Harry, pulling the file from the clutter, "Let's go do some generic crime stopping, shall we?"

Draco smiled and shook his head at Harry again, and they left the office together. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of all people, it was Draco Malfoy that showed up at Harry's office door. Harry was shocked when it had happened, but he was rather pleased. He'd heard about Malfoy's skill in Auror training, and he was intrigued. He was even more intrigued when the bully he remembered from school had turned out to be somewhat nice, and hardly ever spoke. When he did speak though, it was always good, and he never wasted words. They worked together amazingly well, despite Harry's constant poking and prodding into Malfoy's life, which the other man took in good stride. He knew the rookies' six months introduction would be coming up soon, and he was going to be sad to see Malfoy go, they'd become quite the team in the past couple months. Ron and Hermione still hadn't wrapped their heads around the fact that he and Malfoy were working together so closely, despite how often Harry talked about him. He supposed they were used to that from their years at Hogwarts already. 

"So Malfoy just doesn't talk," Ron repeated, over their bi monthly dinner. 

"No, he does talk, just not often," Harry corrected.

"Weird," said Ron.

"It's not that weird," Harry found himself defending. 

"How do you work together so well if he barely speaks to you?" Hermione asked, quite genuinely curious. 

"He does talk, when it's necessary, but I dunno, he nods, or I read his facial expressions, it's not that hard," Harry explained lamely. 

"So you just know what he has to say without him actually saying anything?" asked Hermione, seeming like that question had some sort of connotation Harry missed. 

"I guess," said Harry, feeling oddly like he was being interrogated. 

He was spared from more questions a moment later by a curt knock on the door. Harry immediately sprung up to answer it, glad to be away from the table that had somehow felt much smaller since their last conversation. 

He opened it to find none other than Draco Malfoy standing there, on his front doorstep, handing him some papers that looked like witness testimony. Harry accepted it, and had what must have seemed like a very one sided conversation with Draco to Ron and Hermione eavesdropping. Only he fully understood, however, that his words were punctuated by unspoken comments from Draco in the form of immaculate eyebrow movement and somewhat judgemental expressions. 

"Witness statements? How did you know where I lived by the way? Right, don't ask, you have your ways. You did these interviews by yourself? Impressive. Don't be so cocky, you aren't that great with people. Yes, you heard me correctly, you aren't great at interviewing witnesses. Yes, these notes are good, that's why I complimented you, but in general I am better at this sort of thing. Yes, you're on. Ten galleons? Deal. Can we go over these tomorrow morning? Good, thanks for these. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Draco, stepping away to let Harry close the door behind him. 

Harry walked back to the table, reading the statements Draco had given him. They really were quite detailed, he had to hand it to him, he was good. He realized Ron and Hermione were staring at him. 

"What?" He asked defensively. 

"That was weird," said Ron.

"He only said one word," said Hermione. 

"And?" Harry asked. 

"And nothing," said Hermione, with the tone that indicated she had dropped it for now but the subject would certainly be back later. The rest of the dinner was slightly awkward, but none of them decided to address it. 

It turned out that the witness testimonies had brought them to another suspect on their current case, (which was more high profile than any of the ones before it), and when they had shown up to apprehend said suspect, he had put up quite the fight. It was nothing he and Draco couldn't handle of course, but there were a few injuries, most of them suffered by the uncooperative suspect. Harry had locked the culprit up in the interrogation room for a while to stew before they would interrogate him. They would have enough evidence to lock him away for a long time once their team had finished sweeping his house, but he had given Draco a couple nasty gashes, so Harry wanted him to suffer for a while. Harry immediately made Draco sit down in a chair on the main floor when they got back to the Auror offices, even though he was insisting he was fine. 

Draco had insisted on fixing Harry's one wound before he would attend to his own, and while Harry had made quite a good argument, Draco had just ignored it, said nothing, and healed the cut on Harry's cheek while Harry talked at him. Harry grumbled but thanked Draco all the same, getting a bit annoyed when the little punk had the nerve to look smug because of his excellent healing charms and ability to defuse Harry's protests without a single word. Draco managed to make Harry feel a lot of things without a single word. Harry finally started to get to work checking out Draco's injuries when a couple other young Aurors walked by. 

"Got roughed up by a single suspect, Malfoy?" jeered Andrew Kirke, laughing at the blood in Draco's blond hair, "What have you got to say about that?"

"He's got nothing to say. Dumb, that one is, doesn't speak at all," laughed Justin Finch-Fletchley, he snatched Draco's wand from the desk he leaned against, and tossed it back and forth a few times, sneering at Draco. Harry was ready to hex him into oblivion when Draco spoke up. 

Draco raised his hand from leaning on the desk and pointed one finger casually at him. "Maybe you should try it some time, Fletchley, might do us all some good."

Fletchley opened his mouth to retort, but he couldn't. His tongue appeared to have curled back on itself, as an effect of a particularly good tongue-tying curse. A small proud smile flickered on Draco's lips, well concealed enough that only Harry could pick up on it. Harry had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing at the enraged look on Fletchley's face. 

The Head Auror Robards walked past at that moment, and it took Fletchley no time at all to complain that Draco had cast a tongue-tying curse on him. 

"You can't handle a tongue-tying curse, Fletchley? You're making me regret letting you become an Auror. Like children, the lot of you rookies." Fletchley looked very pale, and stuttered to apologize and explain himself, but the older man paid him no attention. "Good work today, Potter, Malfoy, keep it up," he praised, now in the direction of Harry and Draco. He added after, "Did you curse Fletchley, Malfoy?"

"No, Sir, I couldn't have, Fletchley is holding my wand. Perhaps he accidentally cursed himself."

All the Aurors in the vicinity were snickering now, apart from Fletchley himself, who looked positively furious. Once the Head Auror left and everyone had regained control of themselves, Draco turned and smiled at the very confused and very angry Fletchley. Draco silently raised his hand, palm out, and his wand soared directly into it. Draco placed the wand down on the desk once more, and turned back to Harry who was tending to his wounds, though he was still paying rapt attention to Fletchley storming off in a huff.  
"That was amazing," said Harry, "The look on that smug bastard's face was priceless."

Draco smiled devilishly in response, one of his very rare full smiles that make the corners of his eyes crinkle. Harry loved those smiles. He made it his goal to try to see as many of them as possible. He'd better brush up on his comedic skills. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco's six months were up. He was going to get his first assignment. It was a fateful Tuesday morning, with all the rookies lined up outside the Robard's office, getting called in one by one to receive their new positions. Draco's name was far down the list, yet another reason why he despised the name Malfoy. His spirits were lifted when Fletchley came out of the office looking put out, having been assigned to guard low level foreign delegates. It was not the most interesting job. Eventually, Robards stuck his head around the door and called out Draco's name. 

He stepped into the office apprehensively, sitting down very gently in the chair across Robards' desk. The Head Auror's desk was much neater than Harry's. 

"So, Malfoy," said Robards, eyes skimming down a relatively thick file in his hands, "I wasn't sure about you at first, what with your history," He paused, looking up to meet Draco's eyes. Draco did not flinch. 

"That's quite reasonable."

Robards deemed this a good answer. "But you passed training exceptionally well, and your work so far with Potter has been excellent. It was me who reassigned you with Potter, this office was robbed of talent when you were placed with... who was it now? Doesn't matter. Everyone advised me not to pair you with Potter, thought it would ignite some dark feud from your past, but that's exactly why I did it. You passed my test. Not many pass my tests, especially the ones whom I expect to fail." Robards paused again. "That was a compliment, boy, take it."

"Oh, thank you sir."

"You really don't talk much, do you? It's quite refreshing. People use far too many words. That's going to help you one day, boy, that and the unnerving completely straight expression of yours."

A small part of the back of Draco's brain was dying of laughter at Robards' last and completely untrue statement, but his expression remained firm. 

"Anyways, I've been meaning to reassign Potter as well, and as you two make a good team, you're both transferring to the homicide division. You'll be partners. Do you have any objection to this?"

"None at all."

"Good, because it didn't matter what you thought anyway. You can go now, find Potter he knows where your new office will be."

With that, Draco was dismissed, and he did not spend a second longer in that office than he had to. 

He immediately walked to Harry's now old office, calmly though admittedly at a faster pace than normal. The second he walked through the door, Harry smiled at him, looking up from a very cluttered box. 

"Did you hear?" He asked, trying to contain his excitement as he was obviously not sure if Draco was excited as well. 

"Yes, need help with the boxes?"

Harry smiled fully and passed Draco another box. 

Draco did not say yes if a nod would suffice, or offer help if he could just pick up a box and start. Both of them knew that that meant he was happy about it, without him having to say it specifically. 

In the new office, Draco had his own desk. It was much neater than Harry's. The door had both their names on it. Draco was very pleased. He told Harry a funny story about a guy he met that day. Harry's face lit up as he was listening to Draco recount the story. Draco pretended not to notice how much Harry loved it when Draco responded to his anecdotes with one of his own. Apart from all the murder, he was going to really enjoy this job. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The music was slightly too loud, the drinks were slightly too warm, and it was much too hot, but that was just the way Draco liked it. Draco sat by the bar, and for a moment thought he saw a familiar face, but decided that it was just a trick of the flashing lights. He ordered another drink, making eye contact with the bartender for slightly longer than was necessary. 

Heat radiated toward his right arm, and he felt someone sit next to him and order a beer. 

"Fancy seeing you here," said the man beside him in a voice Draco knew very well. 

He swiveled in his seat to see that yes, Harry Potter was perched on the stool next to him, looking absolutely wonderful out of the Auror robes and in casual clothes. Harry's jeans were slightly tighter than they needed to be, and his neckline was slightly more plunging than normal, but that was just the way Draco liked it.

"Could say the same to you," said Draco almost flirtatiously. He had several drinks in his system, and for some reason a lot more confidence than he'd had in years. 

"Draco Malfoy in a gay club, what would the Prophet have to say about that?" Harry said back, in the same borderline flirty tone. 

"Doubt they'd care at this point."

"Doubt they'd care, or doubt you'd care?"

"Both." Draco wasn't sure how long he would keep this up, talking with Harry, but he decided to roll with it as long as it lasted. 

"Any promising prospects?" Harry asked, turning to face the dance floor. 

"Not yet," said Draco, turning as well, "Pickings are slim tonight."

"Seems like I've already met most of them in here."

"Do you even remember everyone you've met in one of these places?"

"No, but that's what makes it seem like I've known most of them."

Draco laughed, but he wasn't sure if Harry could hear the sound over the booming of the bass. "Perhaps you should try a new club," Draco suggested. 

"Done that. Gonna run out eventually."

"Me too."

"So tell me, who in here have you crossed paths with before."

Draco was feeling very bold tonight. 

"Grey shirt, hair that looks like it wouldn't move if you hit it with a sledgehammer," said Draco, pointing. 

"Mmm, unfortunate," said Harry, leaning in closer to Draco to point out someone else, "That one there, vest guy, decent in bed but never try to have a conversation with him, it'll take your IQ down two notches every minute."

"Him over there too, asked for my number then proceeded to take three shots of tequila."

"Guy in the red shirt, two o'clock, worst O face you've ever seen."

So it became a game then, telling each other their worst hookup stories. When they ran out, they started recounting the highlights of their best hookups. This is when they sat much closer together, and touched each other's arms when the story was particularly funny. By the end of the night, they felt very warm and very drunk. The next day at work was slightly awkward and slightly charged with... something, but that was just the way Draco liked it. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He'd ran into Draco at a gay club. He'd gotten drunk with Draco at said club. They'd shared hookup stories at that bar. Harry was nursing a bad hangover. 

Draco walked into their shared office and wordlessly handed Harry a vile of hangover potion. Harry'd accepted it with a nod of thanks. Was this how it was going to be again? Draco saying ten words a day, them being nothing more than partners at work? They'd talked all night. There had been something there, Harry was sure of it. 

Once Harry stopped looking so sickly, Draco handed him a file on their next case, the report from the ME's office that had ruled a witch's death a homicide. Harry guessed that this was how things were going to be. This is not what Harry wanted. To be truthful, Harry had no idea what he wanted. 

The next few weeks went by completely normally, and there was not one word spoken about that night, but that was not unexpected. Draco did slowly begin to open up to Harry more, and while he did still speak fairly rarely, his words now had more confidence behind them. Over those couple weeks, Harry laughed at Draco's now more frequent jokes and comments, his cheeks heated up when Draco smiled at him, and he began to understand what it might be that he wanted. 

Draco walked into the office one morning with a black eye. 

"Draco, what happened?" asked Harry immediately, standing up from his chair to get a closer look at the injury. 

"Nothing," said Draco, crossing the small room to open one of his desk drawers. He pulled out his jar of salve for bruises, he must have left it there and not had time to heal it at home. That made Harry wonder how often he got injured without Harry having any idea. 

"Draco that's not nothing, it's swollen up badly."

"It's fine," Draco insisted, giving Harry his look that meant 'move on'. 

Harry dropped the subject, but Draco was quiet that day, as quiet as that first day he walked into Harry's office, and back into his life. 

They decided to split up the work, and Draco mostly avoided Harry until Harry entered to office at the end of the day to grab his cloak to see Draco eyeing the last traces of his bruise in the mirror. They made eye contact in the glass, and before Harry could stop himself he said, "Draco," and nothing else, because Draco knew what his words couldn't explain. 

"I handled it," Draco assured him solemnly. 

"If you need-" said Harry, trailing off partway through his sentence. 

"I promise, it's handled."

Harry realized that Draco had become as adept at reading Harry's silences as he had with Draco's. Harry nodded, and bid his partner goodnight. 

The next day, Draco told him a story about the peacocks at the Manor growing up. It was a peace offering, and Harry accepted it wordlessly. He didn't need to say anything at all to know the temporary rift between them had vanished. 

Harry invited Draco to drinks with him, Ron, and Hermione. Draco looked shocked, but politely accepted. Harry knew that Draco had said he was not doing anything that night, and that Draco would not say no when Harry knew he had no excuse. 

Drinks went moderately well as they had alcohol as their buffer, and Harry knew when to take over the conversation to give Draco a break. At around 11:00, Draco flashed Harry his 'save me' look, and Harry announced that they had to be at work early tomorrow, and swiftly paid the tab so they could leave. 

Draco was out the door in probably a few seconds flat, and when Harry followed him into the cold February air, he had his head back with his eyes closed, breathing deeply. Harry watched the clouds of Draco's breath for a few seconds waiting for him to collect himself before he spoke. 

"Sorry if that was a little much, Ron and Hermione can be a bit overprotective."

Draco inhaled and exhaled once more before he replied, eyes still closed. "I'm not dangerous." He said this in the same tentative voice Harry remembered vividly from the trials in the Ministry's huge courtrooms. He hadn't heard that voice in a while. 

"I think the murderers we put in prison would argue with that," said Harry in a weak attempt to lighten the mood. 

Draco finally opened his eyes and turned his gaze to Harry. 

"I'm of no danger to you."

"I know that," said Harry, finding himself trapped by Draco's grey eyes staring so directly into his own. 

"Good," said Draco softly. 

Harry was struck in that moment with a full understanding of Draco Malfoy, the enigma he'd been trying to crack for these past few months. He had seemed like a mystery, hidden in layers of unreadable expressions and no words, a stony facade he showed to the world which made him invincible. He was not invincible though, as he'd been showing Harry slowly as he opened up, and really, he wasn't trying to be. He was breakable just like everyone else, and maybe he had been broken this whole time and was just trying to put the pieces back together in the only way he knew how. It was instinct that drove him then to take the two steps forward and wrap his arms tightly around Draco's thin body, holding him close to his chest. 

Draco was very shocked for a moment and didn't know what to do with his arms, but as Harry squeezed him gently, he wrapped them around Harry's back and let himself be hugged. Draco dropped his head to lean on Harry's shoulder, and neither of them wanted to let go just yet. They did break apart eventually, having no idea how long they actually stood there holding each other. At this point, there was no awkwardness between them. 

"I'll see you at work tomorrow?" Draco asked. 

"Yeah."

"Do I really have to be there early?"

"No, come in whenever you want, I'll cover the Wilkinson case reports for you."

"Thank you," said Draco, and Harry understood that it was for more than the reports. 

"Anytime," said Harry, and Draco understood that it was for more than the reports. 

That night marked the point of no return: they were now friends, and that wasn't going to go away any time soon. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So can I ask you something?" Harry asked tentatively. 

"Go for it," Draco replied, lounging rather dramatically on Harry's couch. 

"How is it that you talk so much to me now, but not to anyone else?" He asked it like the question had been weighing on him for a long time.  
Draco sat up straight, chewing on his bottom lip before answering. "It's not only you. I see Blaise every now and then, and I write to Pansy every week, but that's pretty much it. I don't have many friends if you hadn't already deduced that."

"I know, but why me? You barely spoke five words a day to me six months ago."

Draco chewed his lip again, it was his nervous tick. "I don't know. There's just something about you that makes me want to talk to you. You're... trustworthy I guess. You didn't give up on me. No one sticks around long enough to find out what I have to say."

They were both silent for almost a minute, before Harry said almost inaudibly, "You're worth waiting for."

The conversation was over then, and they watched trashy romance movies together on Harry's couch after Harry had to come over and comfort Draco when he started crying during them. It got cold as the night went on, so Draco pulled a huge blanket over them both. They fell asleep on each other some time during the third rom com, and no one in the office was surprised when they walked in together the next morning. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was January, seven months since Draco and Harry had become partners. They were currently throwing around a fizzing ball from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, as it seemed the Wizarding World's new year's resolution was to not murder anyone. 

"Is it bad to be partly hoping that someone gets murdered? I'm very bored," Draco grumbled, tossing the ball straight at Harry's face. 

"Probably," said Harry, catching it without any sign of difficulty, "But I know what you mean."

Harry threw the ball back at Draco, fast, but still, the other man caught it effortlessly. "This is possibly more boring than doing nothing, we're both seekers," Draco complained. 

"I was a better seeker than you were," said Harry, adding spin to his next throw. 

Draco snagged the ball from the air lazily, "That is not true."

"It definitely is, I bet I could send an owl to Oliver Wood, he'd remember the stats."

"He's biased."

"But numbers aren't."

"Whatever, I always preferred being a Chaser anyway."

"Really? A Chaser? I never would have thought."

"Yep, I prefer chasing. Shocking."

"There are more shocking revelations."

"Like what?" Challenged Draco, narrowing his eyes and stopping their game of catch. 

Harry was hooked now, and his competitive spirit won out. 

"The sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin."

"No. That's a lie."

"It's completely true."

"Alright, I can believe that."

"You're just pretending not to be shocked so you can win."

"Not everything is a game, Potter."

"Now that's a lie, and you know it."

"I would never lie."

"Bullshit, you lie all the time."

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"Sure you wouldn't."

"I really wouldn't, I have nothing to gain from it."

"But once you do have something to gain from it, you find nothing morally wrong with lying to your partner?"

"No, because you are my partner I will never have anything to gain from lying to you."

"Oh."

"Slytherins aren't all backstabbers, we value loyalty."

"That makes sense."

"Just like you Gryffindors."

"But now we aren't Slytherins and Gryffindors, are we? We're on the same team now."

"We are. It's nice."

"It is."

Someone knocked on their door.

"Someone's been murdered," said Cindy, the secretary, opening the door and handing a file to Draco who'd jumped up too eagerly, "You boys have fun with that."

"Thanks, Cindy," Harry called while Draco focused all his attention on the new murder.

"Sometimes I worry about you," said Harry, leaning over Draco's shoulder to read the Coroner's report. 

"A poisoning," Draco read, "This is going to be an interesting one."

"Get that excited glint out of your eye before we go talk to the family. You love this job too much."

"What can I say? I love mysteries."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The case was proving to be difficult. With poisoning, there was a 50/50 chance that it would be extremely easy, or extremely difficult. Harry and Draco had never had good luck. They'd gotten a week into the investigation now, with only three weak suspects and another body turning up. The Head Auror had to come into their office at almost midnight telling them to go home, as they were no good to anyone if they were sleep deprived. They both bid somber farewells and went their separate ways, but they both knew that sleep was probably futile. 

Harry did manage to sleep, and it was anything but pleasant. 

His normal nightmares and flashbacks to the war were accompanied by a twisted scene of Draco being poisoned by their mysterious killer, slowly choking and convulsing in Harry's arms while he had to sit and watch; not able to do anything to help him. He woke in a cold sweat, thrashing and screaming. It was a good thing his wards included soundproofing. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A loud ringing noise blared out in the silence of his flat, sending an icy chill down Draco's spine. He sat bolt upright immediately, only calming slightly when he realized the source of the piercing noise was the 'cell phone' Harry had insisted on giving him a month earlier. He stumbled for it in the dark, finally managing to flip it open and press it to his ear. 

"'Ello?"

"Draco," said Harry, out of breath and sounding panicked, "I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call."

"What is it?" Draco asked immediately, already tying up his shoes. 

"I just," Harry paused, trying to get his voice to stop shaking, "Can you come over? I need- I dunno- I just-"

"I'm on my way," said Draco, holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he threw on his cloak. 

"Thank you," said Harry, sounding relieved and impatient. 

Draco flipped the phone closed without another word, disapparating on the spot. Once he'd readjusted to his new surroundings, he rapped his knuckles a few times in quick succession on Harry's door, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. Harry pulled open the door and yanked Draco inside, shutting and locking it behind him.  
Draco surveyed the man in front of him, wearing pajamas, on the edge of hyperventilating, and looking like he could fall apart at the slightest breeze. He wasted no time in pulling Harry into his arms, letting him drop his head down on Draco's shoulder. He rubbed slow circles into Harry's back, waiting for his breathing to even out. 

"Nightmare?" He asked softly. 

Harry nodded into Draco's shoulder, finally looking up when he'd collected himself enough. 

He pulled away and pushed up his glasses. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm in one piece, just the way you left me," Draco assured. 

Harry nodded, like he was trying to convince himself of that fact. "Could you-" he began, dropping off his request before he could fully say it. 

"Could I what?" Draco prompted softly. 

"Will you stay? This case- I don't want you getting hurt."

Draco nodded, hanging his cloak on the stand in Harry's hallway. 

"I could use the company too," said Draco.

They both looked at each other with complete understanding, before Harry said, "Come on, we should at least try to get a few hours sleep."

"What time is it anyway?" asked Draco, following Harry to the bedroom. 

"Two a.m."

"That would explain how dark it is outside."

"Mhm. I don't have a spare mattress."

"I don't mind."

They got in on different sides of the bed, but before long they were in each other's arms, because they needed the comfort that can only come from human touch. They'd been starved of a night like this for too long, of someone that they could be comfortable with, of a bed that was always warm, and arms that promised security. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you mean he's missing?" Harry demanded.

"At the apparition point," Celia babbled, "He was there, and then someone apparated right behind him and took him completely by surprise. He was gone the next second!"

"Did you see who took him?" Harry asked, trying to wrap his head around the fact that Draco had been kidnapped. This wasn't the first time, so he didn't know why he was so freaked. 

"I didn't see his face," she answered, wringing her hands, "I just remember that he was wearing black muggle clothes, was about the same height as Draco, and had broad shoulders."

It wasn't much to go on, but Harry'd found things with less. He just hoped he did it in enough time. 

"Thanks Celia," he remembered to say as he started off towards his office. 

"Potter! Where are you going?" Called Robards, having to hurry to catch up to him. 

"I've got to find where they've taken him."

"Potter, they aren't idiots, they will have wards against tracking spells."

Harry was rummaging through his pockets, ignoring how Robards looked concerned for Harry's sanity, finally letting out a cry of "Aha!" once he'd found what he was looking for. 

"What the bloody hell is that?" asked Robards, completely lost now. 

"Cell phone," said Harry, a slightly manic glint in his eye. 

"And what do you propose we do with that? Call the muggle police?"

"Nope," said Harry, "We're going to call the cell phone company, and have them send us the GPS coordinates."

Robards looked still confused but now impressed. "Okay, Potter, you follow whatever that lead is, and I'll assemble a team to look through your suspect list to see if we can dig  
anything up."

Harry nodded, but he was already leaving the office to go find a muggle library. 

Three hours later, he'd found the location, got a team of Aurors together, and they were surrounding an old warehouse on the outskirts of the city, waiting for Harry's signal to storm the place. Just as Harry was about to give his cue to blow in the doors, they opened. Draco fucking Malfoy just walked out, blood and dirt in his hair, sporting several impressive bruises and cuts, and simply spat blood onto the asphalt and said, "What took you so bloody long?"

Harry wasn't sure if he laughed, squawked, or even almost cried a bit, but by some miracle he managed to shout, "Sweep the building," before running straight to Draco. 

"Hey Harry," he said, swiping blood out of the path of his eye, "Just the man I wanted to see."

"Can you see? You're eye's swelling up something awful."

"I can see just fine, however you have very shitty vision," Draco observed. 

Harry laughed, inspecting Draco's numerous wounds. 

"It's nothing fatal, though I should probably get to the hospital before I pass out from minor blood loss."

"It's not minor if you pass out!" Harry nearly yelped. 

"There's one unconscious guy in there," Fletchely reported, sauntering out of the warehouse toward Harry and Draco, "We're bringing him in now."

"He's the killer," said Draco, "Captured me also. Bastard," He cursed softly, "Not like last time I was kidnapped, less of an idiot. Magical ropes, couldn't... thingy them, y'know? Very  
angry, he was." Draco was mumbling now; not the mumbling of someone tired, but the mumbling of someone who couldn't manage to properly connect thoughts together. This had Harry very worried. 

"Okay I'm going to take him to St.Mungo's, can you take the questioning?" Harry asked Fletchley. 

"Sure, I'll let Robards know."

"Thanks," said Harry, wrapping his arm around Draco's waist, "Let's get you to the hospital."

"Mmm," Draco hummed, leaning his head on Harry's shoulder, "I've always hated hospitals. Too many... sick people. Disturbing. Boring."

Harry secured his grip on Draco, and apparated to the emergency entrance, where the muggles couldn't see him dragging in a very bloody man wearing crimson robes. The Healers in the emergency room knew them well by now, and rushed in to look at Draco.

"Hello," Draco greeted warmly.

"Did someone hit him with a truck and then a cheering charm?" One of them asked. 

"I'm not quite sure," said Harry, "He got kidnapped. We found him like this, the other guy unconcious."

"We can run diagnostics. Know your way to the waiting room?"

"It's my second home."

He sat in that dreaded waiting room for an hour and a half, very worried. He was so worried that he couldn't sit still, but he was also too worried to get up and pace. He then sat, fidgeting, and counting the minutes. Counting minutes is very painful, but it does help the time go by, and my, does ninety minutes go by slowly. 

"Auror Potter?" Harry's head snapped up, "He's absolutely fine, you can take him home, but make sure someone stays with him to make sure he's okay."

Harry nodded, and followed the medi-witch to Draco. 

"Hey," Harry greeted cautiously, "How you feeling?"

"Like I was beaten up. How much did I ramble?"

"Not too much, it was nothing embarassing."

"Oh thank Merlin."

The medi-witch handed him discharge papers which he hastily signed, and then Harry took Draco's arm to help him to the apparition point. 

"Potter, I am capable of walking on my own."

"No you're not, you've just been kidnapped."

"Yes, but I'm fine." His voice did not sound like that of a man who was fine.

"You are most certainly not fine, and you are going to rest. Doctor's orders."

"You aren't my doctor," Draco snapped, not managing any real venom. 

Harry turned to look at the giggling medi-witch, "Does he need rest?"

"He does. Mr. Malfoy, let Mr. Potter help you," the medi-witch responded, backing Harry up. 

Draco grumbled something inaudible, so Harry helped him back to his flat, triumphant. Draco yawned, and wobbled a bit as he looked at the stairs dubiously. Harry, again preferring to be efficient, scooped Draco up bridal style and carried him up the stairs. Harry knew that something was definitely wrong when Draco did not protest. He leaned on the wall as Harry unlocked the door, and again needed Harry to bear most of his weight as they crossed the threshold. 

"'M gonna take a shower," Draco mumbled. 

"No, you are not," said Harry, going into full protective mode, "I'm running you a bath."

Draco nodded. 

Harry threw his cloak over a chair as he made his way to Draco's bathroom, and Draco did not pick it up to move it to the proper place. He sat on the closest chair, and didn't even  
remove his own outer robes. Harry turned on the tap in the tub, making sure it was a good temperature, before heading back to the living room to see Draco in the exact same place. He had at least taken off his shoes. This seemed to be Draco on slightly dysfunctional autopilot. Not good. 

"Draco, you have to take off the robes."

Draco nodded again, taking off his bloodied Auror robes so he was just in his trousers and undershirt before following Harry to the bathroom. Harry threw a shit ton of bubbles and a soothing smelling bath bomb into the tub, and graciously turned his back so Draco could get in. 

"Bubbles covering your junk?" Harry asked a moment later, silently cursing himself for not being able to be properly sensitive. 

"Yep, not gonna blind you," Draco responded. 

Snarky answer, that's good.

"Want to tell me what happened back there?" Harry asked softly, kneeling down on the tiled floor. 

"Took me by surprise, smelled something funny, he must have knowcked me out with something," Draco explained, dragging his hand through the bubbles slowly, "Next thing I know I'm tied up, and he's hitting me. Said I was bait to lure you there, so he could get rid of both of us before we cracked the case and arrested him. Thought you were going to do something stupid like barge in and get yourself killed. I managed to break the bonds eventually, then it was just a matter of duelling him. That's pretty much it."

"And you're sure you're okay, physically at least?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded. "My hair's kinda gross though."

Harry smiled, "Let me help you with that."

He rolled back his sleeves and grabbed Draco's shampoo, something fruity and familiar. He rinsed out most of the blood first, then started working in the soap gently. They were both silent through this, the only sound being the swishing water. 

"Harry?" Draco asked eventually. 

"Mhm?"

"Can you tell me a story?"

This was a strange request, but Harry took it in stride. "What about?"

"Something about you. That I don't know."

"Okay," said Harry, starting to rinse out the shampoo, "When I was ten, I was living with my Aunt and Uncle. Back then, I had no idea that magic existed, and I got dragged along  
on my cousin's birthday. I figured a trip to the zoo was better than the cupboard, so it was actually not a bad time. We went to the snake exhibit, and I was leaning against a railing, staring at a boa constrictor, just talking to myself, when the snake replied to me. We had a nice chat about how it had never seen Brasil, and then Dudley, my cousin, came up and started banging on the glass," Harry retold the story in soft tones, starting on working some conditioner into Draco's hair. 

"I told him to leave the snake alone, but he wouldn't. The details get a bit fuzzy here, it was so long ago, but the next thing that happened was that the glass was suddenly gone, and Dudley had fallen into the enclosure." Draco was hanging on to Harry's every word, even though it was not a very interesting story, at least in the way that Harry told it. He supposed that Draco needed something to concentrate on, and he hoped that it was working. "The snake slithered out thanks to the now non-existent glass, and everyone started screaming. Dudley was sopping wet, and he tried to climb back out, but the glass had reappeared! There was no good explanation for how that had happened, but for some reason I still didn't think 'wizard'."

Harry'd finished his story, and washing Draco's hair, and somehow his hand had ended up resting on the edge of the tub, dangling in the water and clutching Draco's. 

"Thanks," said Draco, turning his head to meet Harry's gaze. The story had worked, because when Harry looked into those grey eyes, Draco was there, fully there. "Will you stay?"  
He asked. 

Harry thought back to the words of a man he used to think was brave. His opinion of the man had changed now, but there was one thing he said that still rang true.

"Always," said Harry.

There was nothing in this moment that Harry wanted more than to kiss Draco, but he knew now was not the time. Draco had had a very trying day, so Harry was not going to  
throw that into more chaos by trying to start something. 

However, when it was Draco who leaned in, Harry was not going to stop him. Their lips met briefly, teasingly, and they both smiled as they leaned back. They sat there for a while longer, holding hands and playing with bubbles, not needing to say anything at all to communicate what they needed between them. It was all out in the open, and it was known. They didn't need words to solidify what they already knew. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Have you seen the paper?" Harry asked, dropping a copy of the prophet onto Draco's kitchen table. 

Draco shook his head, setting down his coffee to read the front page. 

MYSTERIOUS POISONER, CAUGHT

Yesterday afternoon, Auror Draco Malfoy was kidnapped by the murderer who had so far poisoned two witches, and was apprehended by Auror Harry Potter. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were unavailable for comment after the incident, as Malfoy had been injured severely and admitted to St.Mungo's. Head Auror Robards was reluctant to give details on the case, or on Malfoy's condition; only saying that the murderer had been caught and Malfoy was going to recover completely. The real story here though, is the partnership between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. The two childhood enemies turned crime solvers have been doing amazing work, maybe even-

"Do I want to read the rest of this?" Draco asked.

"Probably not," said Harry truthfully, snatching back the paper to flip to the sports section. 

"Coffee?" Draco offered. 

"Please," Harry replied. 

They went about their morning lazily, as they figured Draco getting kidnapped was enough to warrant taking the day off. Harry was checking Draco's wounds and replacing a few  
bandages when a thought struck him. 

"We should take a sabbatical."

"What?" asked Draco, turning around too quickly then regretting it.

Harry passed him a shirt. "We went straight from the war into school and working, and definitely not a low-stress job,"

"Tracking down murderers isn't a walk in the park," Draco agreed. 

"Exactly," said Harry, "And we are obviously not okay, I mean, that war fucked us up pretty good," Draco was nodding along at that, "We need a break. We need to be young, and  
be free, and really relax for the first time in our lives."

"That does sound nice," said Draco slowly, thinking over the proposition. 

"We're both rich, we can afford to do it."

"We're filthy rich," Draco agreed. 

"So, are you in?" Harry asked excitedly. 

"Yeah," said Draco, a smile slowly spreading across his face, "I'm in."

Harry grabbed his face and kissed him in celebration, which Draco certainly appreciated. 

"We should tell Robards we're resigning, I'm not sure if you can exactly take a sabbatical from being an Auror," said Harry.

"Just fucking quit then, if you really want to later, they'll have to hire Harry Potter back."

"That's true."

Draco pulled Harry closer again, "But we'll tell him later."

"Yes. Later."

Draco broke away a few minutes later, and with no warning blurted out, "I don't know how long I can go without getting into a fight or hexing someone? What are we going to do when there's no one to hex? Where are we going to find trouble?"

Harry laughed, "We're Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, trouble finds us."

"Oh, that's right," said Draco, sounding relieved. 

Harry shook his head, "You're crazy."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black."

"I never said it was a bad thing. You keep me on my toes."

Draco smiled, and went back to kissing Harry like it was the only thing he needed to do, which it now was. How spectacular was that?

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They travelled the world, saw the sights, had lazy mornings and wild nights, played tons of quidditch, ate fancy food, moved into a new house and redecorated, and not once regretted it. Of course it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. They had their nightmares, their doubts, their fears, and the days they wouldn't want to talk at all, but they were always there to help each other through it, and that's what mattered. They knew what set the other off, and how to calm him down, and the episodes got better and farther in between. They were starting to heal, and to build new lives together. 

They were in their new place, a day after moving in, and were sitting on the new rug amidst the boxes they were too lazy to unpack. They sipped their tea, happily quiet, enjoying each other's company. 

"What should we unpack first?" Draco asked, knowing full well that they wouldn't start until the next morning. 

"The smallest box," said Harry. 

"That sounds like a good plan."

"I have one perfect for you," said Harry, smiling. He kneeled to reach over Draco, pulling a little blue box out of the box of quidditch gear he knew Draco wouldn't have seen. He leaned back beside Draco, now only resting on one knee. Draco's eyes went wide as Harry smiled and passed him the box. 

Draco opened it and gaped. 

"It's been the best few years of my life, Draco," Harry said, gazing into the very shocked eyes of the man he loved, "And I don't want to ever spend any more without you. So," he  
continued, gesturing at the ring box in Draco's hand, "Will you marry me?"

Draco nodded rapidly, his hand across his mouth. 

"Is that a yes?" Harry asked. 

"Of course it's a yes, you tosser," said Draco, managing to put the ring on his finger and hit Harry almost at the same time. 

Harry laughed and kissed Draco, pulling back when he felt something wet on his cheek.

"Are you crying?" Harry asked.

"No," Draco lied, "Are you?"

"No," Harry also lied. 

They laughed and sobbed and kissed some more, and the boxes were all forgotten for many hours, only a few of which were filled with sleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The wedding ceremony wasn't over the top, but it wasn't small either. The lawn of the Burrow was filled with friends and family, which had become synonymous at this point, and  
there were no sides, because Draco and Harry shared everything, including friends and now family. They wrote their own vows, because neither of them was religious, and even if the rest of it was a classy affair with the sappiness down to a minimum, once the vows came there was not a dry eye in the audience. 

Draco started with his. 

"Harry," He began, (Harry thought he might lose it already when Draco said his name, but he managed to keep it together,) "Our lives have been tangled since First Year at Hogwarts. For those seven years, we were enemies, and I regret every year where I couldn't let myself see how great you were." (This was the moment when everyone's eyes started watering, with the exception of Hagrid who'd been sobbing since they walked down the aisle,) "No matter how awful those years were, and no matter how much we suffered, I'm glad for them, because they brought me here, to this moment, to you." (This was when Harry started to feel the tears coming,) "After the war, I was lost. I had nothing. I was going through the motions of my life, and I didn't even know what those were supposed to be. Then, by chance and by the unlikely matchmaker Head Auror Robards, I walked into your office, and I knew somewhere deep down that something was going to change, though I had no idea what. What I want to say to you, Harry, is thank you." (This was when Draco started crying, and when the tears really started to fall down Harry's face.) 

"Thank you, Harry, for sticking around long enough to get to know me. You know best of anyone that that was an extremely difficult task, especially back then, when I could barely speak to anyone. You will never really know how much you've done for me, and I don't even think I know, because in those months when we became friends, or whatever it is that we were, I was a complete and utter hot mess." (Everyone laughed at this, and it was the kind of sweet laugh that you do when sobbing that just makes you sob more.) "I'm not sure when it was that I realized I loved you, but I think I knew the feeling long before I could put it into words. You've taught me so much, Harry, and I think the most important thing I learned from you was how to love. Love doesn't mean grand gestures and flowers and chocolates, though those things are nice don't forget that. Love is in the everyday things. Love is knowing each other better than anyone else can. Love is being able to communicate without needing words. You loved me by being able to fill my silences, and joining me in them. You loved me by holding me together when the pieces were falling apart, and by taking care of me when I couldn't. Harry Potter, I am going to spend every day of my life loving you, and knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with you is all I'll ever need." 

Draco smiled at him, and squeezed his hands. Harry smiled back through tears. 

"Aah, I shouldn't have let you go first," Harry laughed, wiping the tears from his face. Draco laughed too and pulled out his pocket square to help him. "You're a hard act to follow, Draco, but I'm going to do my best." Everyone laughed, and took a short break from crying only to prepare themselves for more crying.  
Harry took a deep breath, and started speaking. 

"I love you, Draco. I love you," He said simply. (Everyone started crying again.) "Every morning I wake up next to you, and every day I'm hit again with 'oh my god, it's true, he's really mine.' I've never really had a home. Hogwarts was my home, for a time, but it never really was, at least not fully. Because of you, I've begun to understand that a home doesn't need to be a place. When we were travelling, I never once felt homesick, and I realized that it was because you are my home. It doesn't matter where in the world we are, when I'm with you, I'm home. You make me feel safe, which again was a rarity in my life. You make me feel comfortable, and loved. Draco Malfoy I now know that this, you, what we have, is all I've ever wanted. You walked into my office and back into my life on that otherwise boring Monday morning, and I decided then and there that I would solve the mystery that was Draco Malfoy. I made it my mission to know everything about you, to worm my way into your heart, and wow, I had no idea it would go this well. We're going to spend the rest of our lives together, and man, am I thrilled."

They kissed, and everything was perfect. Everything was right with the world, as far as they were concerned. The party that followed the ceremony was epic. Harry and Draco snuck off to a dark corner to make out like the classy husbands they were for a while, and as they walked back to the party, Harry thought of how proud his parents would be. Draco hugged his mother tightly, and she told him she was proud of the life he'd made. She even hugged Harry. Molly of course was a lovely crying mess, hugging them both very tightly and many times. Harry and Draco promised to visit Andromeda and Teddy soon, and Teddy laughed and turned his hair the same shade of emerald green as Draco's nails and slightly tear dampened pocket square. 

They lived a blissfully domestic life. Draco opened a bakery and Harry played professional quidditch for a while before retiring to become a DADA teacher. They had three kids: James Sirius Malfoy-Potter was the first. Harry had thought the name was a bit of a mouthful what with the hyphenation and all, but Draco insisted it wasn't nearly as posh and awful as his, so he went with it. Their second was Scorpius Aurelius Malfoy-Potter. Draco had insisted on naming him after his favourite Roman Emperor, and Harry had just given in, deciding that Scorpius could just change it if he didn't like it when he was older. Harry had suggested not giving him a middle name at all, but it was wizard custom. They finally reached a compromise, deciding to name him Scorpius Luna Malfoy-Potter, and have their youngest be Lily Aurelius Malfoy-Potter. It was slightly eccentric, but what had they ever done that wasn’t eccentric?

Though it definitely was cliche, they lived happily ever after, because after everything they'd been through, they'd earned it.


	2. THERES A REWRITE COMIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okeydokey folks lets do this

This has gotten so many more hits and kudos and comments and positive support than I ever dreamed it would, so thank you everyone so so much!!! A rewrite is in the process as I tend to never edit before I post things (whoops), so the rewrite which is going up soon will include better writing, a more coherent plot, and brand new content!!! tell ya friends and I hope you all enjoy

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story I'm posting here so sorry it's a little rough. Also I'm a sap I needed them to have a happy ending. 
> 
> If you could leave any feedback it would be greatly appreciated, as this could use some editing. 
> 
> Alright bye thanks


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